Geelong SEO team’s positive news about Google reviews

07.11.2018

Diplomat and activist Eleanor Roosevelt was the longest-serving First Lady of the USA and is something of a revered figure in the land of the free and home of the brave. So, in our role as Geelong SEO website developers and advisers, it’s with a little trepidation we challenge Mrs Roosevelt on a quote which is generally attributed to her but is also the mantra of self-help gurus and high-profile somebodies who’ve found themselves on the receiving end of criticism or unflattering attention.

What are these far-reaching words of wisdom? You’ll know them when you read them, and here they are: “What other people think of me is none of my business.”

First up, we sort of agree with the sentiment of Mrs Roosevelt’s quote, at least insofar as none of us really has any idea what people think about us and therefore we’re wasting time even wondering about it.

But where we disagree with Mrs Roosevelt – and where what people are thinking about you really is your business – is when it’s your business they’re thinking about.

Huh?

Bear with us. All will become clear in a moment.

What people think about your business is crucial from an online marketing and search engine optimisation perspective, particularly if those thoughts are generally positive. As we said earlier, you have no idea what people are thinking, but as a business owner you somehow need to find a way to get clients’ happy thoughts about your business out of their heads and into Google reviews. That’s Google reviews, just to emphasise the point. Not Facebook, not Yelp, not True Local – Google!

Why? Because the evidence is growing stronger by the day that the more Google reviews a business has beside its name, the better it performs in Google searches. International SEO company BrightLocal has released the findings of a study which strongly suggests Google reviews have a positive impact on rankings. There’s a bit of data to wade through in BrightLocal’s report but the short story is that businesses in the top 10 spots in Google searches are those with plenty of good Google reviews. Businesses in the highly coveted positions one to three on the Google search results page have an average gold star rating of 4.7, those in positions four through to six have an average 4.6 stars, and businesses in the bottom section of the top 10 average 4.45 stars. As well, businesses in the leading positions have plenty of reviews – 40-plus – beside their names.

The report also reveals that consumers won’t use a business that has fewer than four stars to its name. That’s right. A reviews status less than four stars is not good for business.

Google reviews boost website SEO

It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? Google reviews can help in your quest to dominate the online rankings and to attract new clients. Goop Digital’s SEO website team in Geelong builds websites that shine in Google searches, but if you want that extra polish and online sparkle and even more clients, Google reviews are the way to go.

So, no, you can’t read minds! But you do have a means to extract thoughts from people’s heads and get those thoughts into the heads of others – Google reviews! And getting those reviews isn’t as hard as you might think, although it does take some effort.

We know a lot of people struggle to ask for reviews but there is a subtle and quite simple way to seek feedback from happy clients. Here’s how. Whenever you provide a service to a new client follow up with an email, and in that email include a request that if the client is happy with the service, to consider leaving a positive Google review for your business. In the email include a link to the reviews section of your Google My Business listing. Anybody with a Gmail account can leave a review of your business

How do you create a link to leave a Google review? Easy. The video at the bottom of the page shows how but here are the steps.

How to create a Google Review link

Type your business name into Google to bring up your Google My Business listing.

Click on the Write a review button in your Google My Business listing.

Copy the URL from the Reviews page which opens. The URL will be long but we’ll shorten it in the next step.

Paste the URL into your email message as a hyperlink. You can create an email template, if you like, for future use.

Send the email.

Now, a lot of your clients won’t leave reviews but many will. Make sure you check your reviews regularly and thank those people who leave positive reviews and answer any feedback from those who might not be completely happy with your work. That’s an important point. Don’t ignore reviews you’re not happy with. Respond online and make a genuine effort to resolve the person’s concerns. You might just turn four stars into five!

So, Mrs Roosevelt and sundry others, you’re right and you’re wrong. What other people think of you might be none of your business, but the thoughts of others can certainly help your business.

If you’d like to know more about Google Reviews or online marketing, please contact the Geelong SEO websites team at Goop Digital. We’re here to help.